Live Long and Thrive

We’re all living longer than ever before. The world’s centenarian population is projected to grow eightfold to 3.7 million by 2050 — which is wonderful, except there’s a catch.

A 2021 article in the journal Nature found that there’s roughly a nine-year gap between how long we live and how long we live well — free from disease, disability, and the kind of fatigue that makes getting off the couch feel like a feat. That gap has a name: the difference between your lifespan and your healthspan. But I’d add a third piece to that puzzle: your joyspan — the years you actually feel alive. Connected. Happy. Full of purpose.

Because what are we even doing this for if not that?

Here’s how I think about it:

• Lifespan: the total number of years you’re alive 
• Healthspan: the years you’re healthy, functional, and moving well 
• Joyspan: the years you’re genuinely thriving with purpose, happiness, & connection

The goal isn’t just a long life. It’s getting all three to line up.

The good news? Human lifespan has nearly doubled since 1900, thanks to advances in medicine, public health, and nutrition. Women, in particular, tend to outlive men by several years. But extra years aren’t a victory if they’re spent in pain, isolation, or watching your body do things you didn’t sign up for. The real work isn’t adding years to your life — it’s adding life to your years. 

Healthspan is what lets you keep saying yes to the things you care about. Though I’m not generally a fan of Dr. Peter Attia, and I find some of what the new longevity industry promotes to be problematic, Attia’s book Outlive makes a point worth repeating: modern medicine is great at extending life but fails at preventing the chronic diseases that slowly chip away at our quality of life. He calls them the “Four Horsemen”: atherosclerotic disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and metabolic dysfunction.

His argument is that the time to act is before you have a problem. And the most powerful tool we have? Exercise. Not a supplement. Not a biohack. Movement. It delays both physical and cognitive decline better than any other intervention we know of. And movement is what we do every day at Pilates in Holland.

Meet Beverly. Beverly started Pilates with Mandy 12 years ago… at 80 years old. Today, she rolls into the studio in her wheelchair and calls it the highlight of her week.

This is especially critical for women. As Axios reports, a significant fitness gender gap exists, and the barriers are real. Women face unique challenges—from caregiving responsibilities and time constraints to hormonal changes and a lack of representation in fitness spaces. But as we enter our mid-30s and beyond, hormonal shifts make strength training less of a “nice to have” and more of a non-negotiable. Muscle loss, bone density, balance — these aren’t things that just happen to other people. They happen to all of us, quietly, unless we do something about it. A mix of cardio, strength work, and stability training — hello, Pilates — is the foundation of a long healthspan. We’re not training to look a certain way. We’re training to keep showing up for our own lives. 

And showing up isn’t just physical — it’s emotional, too. 

Dr. Kerry Burnight’s concept of “joyspan” — explored in her book Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half— makes the case that joy isn’t just a nice bonus, it’s a biological necessity. Research shows that positive emotions and a sense of purpose don’t just make life more enjoyable; they can actually reduce inflammation, strengthen immune function, and may add years to our lives.

Which means your book club, your walk with a friend, your Saturday morning class — those aren’t indulgences. They’re medicine.

And the research backs this up. Longevity expert Dr. Eric Topol‘s personal healthspan routine? Strength training, quality sleep, a simple diet without ultra-processed foods, and social connection. Doctors in the UK and the Netherlands have been prescribing social activities for years — cycling clubs, museum visits, tai chi — subsidized by national health services. 

There’s also something quietly wonderful about what AARP called “Grandmothers’ Secrets to Longevity” — real food, daily movement, deep relationships. No optimization required. Sometimes the old wisdom and the new science are saying exactly the same thing.

So, what now? You are the architect of your own longevity equation. And the entry point is not complicated.

Go for a walk. Lift something heavy. Eat a real meal. Call a friend. Sleep. Come to class.

You’re not just living for tomorrow — you’re investing in a longer, healthier, and genuinely happier future. And that future starts with what you do today.